“In my nearly twenty-year career as a journalist, this was one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed”commented reporter Clarissa Ward on “secret prison” of Bashar al-Assad, the dictator deposed three days earlier.
A sequence very quickly marred by suspicions of staging. “Impressed by CNN's Clarissa Ward's Oscar-Worthy Performance”mocks a user on X. “She is determined to put herself at the center of every story she covers”criticizes another, on the same social network. According to the Syrian fact-checking site Verify-Sy, a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), the prisoner could well be a former lieutenant in the Syrian secret service. The investigation, published on Sunday December 15, is based on testimonies from families of victims and former detainees.
The scene filmed by CNN takes place in Damascus, in a secret Syrian air force intelligence jail, where training was carried out “the surveillance, arrest and murder of all critics of the regime”according to the journalist. Clarissa Ward accompanies an armed rebel, in search of her colleague Austin Tice, kidnapped in 2012. The places seem deserted, except for a locked cell. After breaking the lock, the team comes across a man, hiding under a black blanket.
He gets up, hands in the air, and immediately states that he is “a civilian”originally from the city of Homs. The man seems in shock, grabs the journalist's arm, shows tremors. “Syria is free”lets him know his liberator. He would have been in the cell for three months and would have been tossed around in three different prisons, according to the journalist's commentary, which reports the words of the ex-inmate.
The man says his name is Adil Hurbal and claims to have been arrested at his home and questioned by officers from the military intelligence directorate about his telephone contacts. The man was eventually evacuated by a Red Crescent ambulance. “This is the end of a very dark chapter for him and for all of Syria”comments Clarissa Ward in the report.
But Verify-Sy's investigation undermines the prisoner's version. The Syrian fact-checking site notes several inconsistent details: the prisoner claims to have been incarcerated for three months, but does not seem dazzled when he looks at the sky when leaving. The man oscillates between tremors and moments of calm. Despite the extreme conditions of detention in secret prisons, it seems “clean, well-groomed and in good physical health, without visible injuries or signs of torture.” He was also the only inmate in an empty prison.
According to the Syrian media, no person named “Adil Hurbal” appears in public records. The man's real name is “Salama Mohammad Salama”, also known as “Abou Hamza”, first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force intelligence services, according to Verify-Sy. The officer controlled the western entrance to the area, according to residents of the Al-Bayadah neighborhood in Homs. He would also have been involved in “theft, extortion, and maneuvers aimed at forcing residents to become informants”continues the Syrian site. So how did he end up behind bars?
According to local residents interviewed by Verify-Sy, he had a dispute with a superior officer over a “sharing of profits from extorted funds”. Other, more serious accusations hang over the former officer of Bashar al-Assad's regime. He is suspected of participating in multi-front military operations in Homs in 2014, killing civilians, and detaining and killing young men in the city without motive, or for fabricated motives. Some reportedly simply refused to cooperate or pay bribes. Allegations corroborated to the Syrian media by families of victims.
Since the controversy, journalist Clarissa Ward has not reacted publicly. On the other hand, his television channel communicated, denying any staging. “No one except the CNN team was aware of our plans to visit the prison building featured in our report that day. The events unfolded as they appear in our film.”declared a CNN spokesperson, contacted Monday by franceinfo.
“We then investigated his background and we know he may have given a false identity. We are continuing our reporting on this case and on [la situation en Syrie depuis la chute du régime Assad] more generally.”
A CNN spokespersonat franceinfo
The first Western journalist to reach the Gaza Strip in October 2023, Clarissa Ward has already faced criticism for her sensationalism. She was accused of portraying herself in a report during a rocket attack near the Israeli-Palestinian border. According to the Associated Press, the accusations were based on a misleading video shared on X, the audio of which was doctored to make it appear as if the CNN cameraman was receiving instructions. The original report did not include any filming instructions.
